On Saturday afternoon, police apprehended a teenager in connection with a triple shooting in the Bronx that resulted in the death of a 16-year-old boy.
The 17-year-old suspect faces charges of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, and illegal weapon possession. Authorities have linked him to the shooting of Christopher Redding, which occurred on Wednesday. Redding was fatally shot in the back outside the Bronx Alehouse on West 238th Street near Putnam Avenue in the Kingsbridge area, shortly after 5 p.m.
In addition to the fatality, a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl suffered gunshot wounds to their right legs but are expected to recover.
All three wounded teenagers were transported to St. Barnabas Hospital, where Redding sadly succumbed to his injuries.
“We’re devastated. I wish he were still here. I wish he were still alive,” said Bryan Corley, Christopher Redding’s father. “It all feels like a terrible nightmare.”
The accused teenager is awaiting arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court. Authorities are withholding his name due to his age.
Police said the bloodshed was gang motivated, despite Redding having no criminal record. Corley insisted his son was an innocent bystander who was on his way home from school.
“My boy was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Corley said. “It’s a real tragedy. Everybody’s world has been ripped apart.”
Redding was a freshman at Kennedy High School where he was a star player on the varsity football team.
“Christopher was an exceptional athlete,” Corley said. “He was a running back for Kennedy High School and a whole lot of other teams.”
Investigators initially suspected the shooting stemmed from an argument inside a McDonald’s on Broadway near the scene, where a worker described a dispute over spilt ice cream that led an adult woman and three men to attack a teenage girl inside the fast-food place earlier Wednesday.
Detectives were still looking for three other individuals in connection to the shooting, two men and one woman. They released surveillance photos on Thursday of the suspects.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
